It was a scene played out at Ray’s Corner Variety in Presque Isle earlier this week, after a Maine State Lottery player won $250,000 on a ticket he had bought at the Academy Street store.

This is the second time in three years the store has sold such a substantial winning ticket.

The male customer had bought the $10 instant scratch ticket last week at the convenience store, store owner Raylene Shaw said Friday. The man, whose name Shaw knows, wants to remain anonymous for now.

His big win, however, is nothing new to store employees. In August 2007, another male customer bought a winning $9.875 million Megabucks lottery ticket at the store. That big winner has never come forward.

“It really is unbelievable,” Shaw said Friday about the recent $250,000 win. “The ticket was a $10 ‘In The Money’ scratch ticket. We found out that he had won the cash on Tuesday, but the ticket was purchased last week.”

Data from the Maine State Lottery Web site shows that $250,000 is the maximum amount of money a player can win on that instant ticket.

According to Shaw, ticket sales at the store have skyrocketed since it sold the 2007 winning lottery ticket. “We do a lot of ticket sales for such a small store,” she acknowledged. “It is great for business.”

Shaw said the store will take in $2,500 for selling the winning ticket. In 2007, the store took in approximately $30,000 for selling the $9 million ticket.

Shaw used the 2007 money to make improvements to the store. She said Friday she will use the latest winnings to help expand it.

As for the ticket holder, Shaw said he showed his appreciation to the clerk who sold him the winning ticket.

“He brought her in a bag that had money in it as well as some gifts,” she said. “It was really nice.”

He also told store employees that he plans to make some home improvements now that he is $250,000 richer. He also plans to travel, according to Shaw.

As for Shaw, she can’t explain her own lottery luck. She joked that if another person wins a substantial amount of money on a ticket at the store, she is going to rename the place Mr. Lucky’s.